Preparative separation-purification systems using liquid chromatographs are used in pharmaceuticals or similar fields in order to collect samples for creating a library of various kinds of chemically synthesized compounds or analyzing the details of such compounds. Conventional examples of preparative separation-purification systems are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 as well as other documents.
In these apparatuses, target components (compounds) in a sample solution are temporally separated by a liquid chromatograph. The separated target components are introduced into respective trap columns and temporarily captured therein. Subsequently, a solvent is supplied to each trap column to quickly elute the component from the trap column and collect it in a container. Thus, a plurality of solutions, each of which contains one target component at a high concentration, is collected in respective containers. These separately collected solutions are then subjected to a vaporizing and drying process to remove the solvent and collect the target components in solid forms.